High speed tape drives are typically employed as part of a data processing complex for the accessing of data stored on tape cartridges. A significant amount of time is typically required to access and load a tape cartridge in a drive. Thus, cartridge magazines and automated data storage libraries are often employed to supply the cartridges to the tape drives.
As the result, there is a continuing desire to reduce the number of cartridges required for the same amount of data. This may be accomplished by increasing the amount of data which may be stored in each of the tape cartridges.
The amount of data stored in each tape cartridge may be increased by increasing the length of tape by reducing its thickness and/or increasing the track density and the linear data density of data stored on the tape. The tape head in the tape drive may have to be altered to handle the thinner tape, and has to be altered in each instance of a change in data density in order to handle the increased number of tracks and the increased linear data density.
However, it would be advantageous to maintain the same cartridge housing, or utilize a cartridge having similar dimensions, so that the same automated data storage libraries, the same magazines, and the same storage shelves and storage slots may continue to be utilized.
Another important measure of the performance of a tape drive is the time to data. However, as the amount of data stored in each tape cartridge is increased, the speed of accessing that increased data by the tape drive is often not similarly increased. If the length of the recording tape is increased, the speed of accessing that data may decrease as the time required by the tape drive to wind the tape spools increases to move the desired data to the tape head, thereby increasing the time required to gain access to data on the longer tape.